In the field of hairdressing, it is often desirable to roll a client's hair about a plurality of cylinders while the hair is damp and subsequently drying the hair while it is still in its rolled state. Such a rolling and drying results in dressed hair having a fuller appearance and enhanced body.
Currently, there are two principal methods for rolling and drying hair. The first involves the use of a hairbrush to brush the hair and a separate cylindrical roller to roll the hair and hold it in the desired position. The second involves brushing and rolling the hair with a plurality of substantially cylindrical brushes having fixed handles extending from one end of the base of the cylinder. Each of these methods allows the hair to be brushed and rolled while the hair is wet and to subsequently hold the hair in position during drying. However, each of these methods has significant drawbacks.
The use of a hairbrush to brush the hair and separate cylindrical rollers to roll the hair and hold it in the desired position requires careful coordination of both hands of the hairdresser to allow the hair to be brushed and held and, at the same time, the roller to be manipulated to allow the hair to be rolled. Added to this is the need for the hairdresser to put down the hairbrush with one hand, while holding the rolled hair with the other, in order to pin or clip the hair to the roller. If any of the rolled hair is not held by the clip, the roller must be removed and the process begun again. In addition, once the rolled hair is successfully pinned or clipped, the pressure on the wet hair exerted by the clips used to hold the rollers in place will often leave a wave in the hair at the contact point between the clip and roller when the hair is dried. Therefore, there is a need for a means for rolling hair to be dried that avoids the coordination problem attendant to the use of a separate hairbrush and roller, that does not require re-rolling if all of the rolled hair does not stay in place during rolling, and that does not utilize clips that may leave waves in the dried hair.
The use of a plurality of cylindrical hairbrushes to brush the hair, roll the hair and to hold the hair in place overcomes the drawbacks of the hairbrush and separate roller method. In this method, the cylindrical hairbrush may be held in one hand while the hair is manipulated by the other hand, avoiding the coordination problems discussed above. Once brushed and rolled, the hair is effectively held within the bristles of the brush without the use of pins or clips that may leave a wave in the hair. Finally, any hair which does not stay in place during the initial rolling may be subsequently wrapped around the brush without requiring the hair to be unrolled, re-brushed, and re-rolled.
Despite its advantages over the hairbrush and roller method, one major drawback of this method is that the extension of fixed handles from the brushes that have already been affixed to the head interferes with the subsequent brushing and rolling of the remainder of the hair. This interference may prevent the hair adjacent to the handles from being adequately brushed and rolled. In addition, the handle of one brush is likely to press down on hair held by an adjacent brush, causing waves in a similar manner to those caused by pins or clips. Therefore, there is a need for a hairbrush that does not include a fixed handle that will interfere with the brushing and rolling of other portions of the hair and press down on hair rolled about an adjacent brush.
A number of patents have been issued in the field of hairbrushes. However, these hairbrushes either fail to overcome the drawbacks attendant to fixed handle hairbrushes, or have significant drawbacks of their own.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,605,023, titled "Hairstyling Brush and a Method for Handling Hairstyling Brushes", discloses a hairstyling brush having a removable apparatus for handling the brush. The handling apparatus includes a cylindrical reservoir, that mates with an open shank of the brush, and a biasing latch to connect and disconnect the handling apparatus from the brush. The hairbrush of this patent does not overcome the problems attendant to fixed handle hairbrushes as the open shank of the brush is not removable and extends from the area where the bristles are disposed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,115, titled "Rotatable Head Hairbrush", discloses a hairbrush having an elongated, generally hollowed, handle having a receiving cavity and a separate brush head having a connection end. When assembled, the arrangement of the handle and connection end of the hairbrush allow the brush head to rotate a predetermined distance about the handle. The hairbrush of this patent does not overcome the problems attendant to fixed handle hairbrushes as the connection end of the brush head is not removable and extends from the area where the bristles are disposed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,500,939, titled "Hair Brush with a Flexible Base Plate Made of a Plastic Material", discloses a hairbrush system having a variety of means for attaching the head to the brush. However, this brush is intended to have a stationary head and, hence, none of the disclosed handles is quickly or easily removable.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,115, titled "Bendable, Extendable Hairbrush With Removable Brush Head", discloses a hairbrush system with a bendable, extendable handle and a removable brush head. In some embodiments of this brush system, the head is adapted to brush and roll the hair and then be completely removed from the handle. However, this brush system is difficult to use as the bayonet and screw systems for attaching the handle to the brush does not provide a way to remove the handle quickly and without exerting a significant force to the brush. Therefore, there is a need for a brush having a handle that may be quickly removed without the exertion significant force on the hairbrush.
A hairbrush and hairbrush system that avoids the coordination problem attendant to the use of a separate hairbrush and roller, that does not require re-rolling if all of the rolled hair does not stay in place during rolling, that does not utilize clips that may leave waves in the dried hair, that does not include a fixed handle that may interfere with the brushing and rolling of adjacent hair, and is quickly and easily removed without the application of significant force, is not known in the art.